You’re walking briskly through the dark, a slight wind whispering through your hair, as tree roots present themselves like a Disney cartoon, seemingly meant for you to hop from one to the other as crunchy, fallen leaves collect and form a path leading you downtown. You no longer remember what day it is, and time is only meaningful as a marker for where you need to be, and what band you’re about to see. You’re so exhausted that other people and structure are flying past you in big blocks of color, but you just keep walking, determined not to miss that next band that you just really, truly have to see.

This is South by Southwest. It is constantly flitting from one show to the next on an almost-empty stomach, grabbing free breakfast tacos here and there when time permits. It is a creature with such a short lifespan, that you devote yourself, mind, body and spirit to it so that you can get the most enjoyment out of it as is humanly possible. This is what the festival brought me this year, and despite seeing fewer bands than I normally am able to, I feel that it was one of my most successful fests to date.

It always creeps up on me. One minute, my friends and I are lamenting the fact that South by Southwest is over, and we have to wait a whole year before we do it all again. The very next, it’s time for a constant barrage of music, libations, and general merriment. And so, here we are again, poised on the edge of greatness (or a great catastrophe, depending on how organized you are). What’s that, you say? You don’t even know who is playing this year? Worry not, o yon procrastinator! That’s what I’m here for. I’ve scoured the SXSW lineup this year and have come up with the below suggestions of bands you really can’t miss. Per our usual format, you’ll find below the name of an incredible band, a brief description of what they’re like, a video of a song that encapsulates what they’re about, and the venues & showtimes where you can actually find them. Some are new to me, some are old favorites. Either way — buckle up. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

South by Southwest 2011 has come and gone, and in its path of destruction, it has also left behind a lot of great new music to enjoy. This was the most difficult year for me to navigate the conference, because it was the first where I was working a full time job most of the week. Still, I happened upon some exciting new discoveries and also enjoyed some of my well-established favorites, and am happy to pass it all along to you.

1, 2, 3 — Ever since this group’s grungy pop tune “Confetti” lodged itself into my brain, I was pumped to see 1, 2, 3 live and figure out how they’d come off on stage. Lead singer Nic Snyder (who you’ll be forgiven for mistaking for Tobey Maguire) has the perfect pop voice, hi-pitched but powerful. The group’s onstage presence is fairly straightforward, but if you’re patient with them, they’ll treat you to a range of loose, beachy rock songs that sometimes even hint at southern influence. This is a band not quite ready to have a big breakout, but with tons of exciting potential. If you like being ahead of the curve, hop on this bandwagon early; I think Frenchkiss absolutely knew what they were doing signing these dudes.

Young the Giant — In my South By preview, I mentioned that these guys could end up being one of my favorite finds of 2011, or they could be another “their hit is all they have up their sleeve” band. I can now say confidently, they are totally the former. Young the Giant are indeed a young, energetic band on the brink. If you’re not too indie for arena rock, look to these guys as possible heirs to the Kings of Leon. The guys took what appeared to be whiskey shots to grand applause before they ripped into their set, and I only found out later that lead singer Sameer Gadhia was suffering from bronchitis that night; I had no idea, he sounded so incredible. The band’s sound is shiny and clean, but their energy is so raw that you don’t leave feeling that sterilized feeling you might with a too-polished rock group. Every band member is fun to watch perform, but Gadhia is unquestionably the show-stealer. The guys excelled at their fast, raucous songs just as well as they killed the slower, moodier tunes, and they left us “My Body” as their goodnight kiss-off. There is all kinds of awesome going on with this band. Listen, listen, listen.

The Dodos — These guys have been kickin’ around for a number of years now, but I’d never managed to catch a live show. I had always wanted to watch singer and guitarist Meric Long’s fingers fly in the fretboard, and watch drummer Logan Kroeber’s arms pump madly as he pitched out rhythms seemingly inhuman. It is as simultaneously whiplash-inducing and effortless as I expected. The guys mostly focused their setlist on brand new tunes, which fit easily into their discography. The Dodos are definitely straightforward performers, but their intense musicianship makes up for a lack of showiness. The band had things working against them; they were playing at 1:00 am, and they were playing fairly gentle folk music at 1:00 am, but they were still a joy to watch and a band I’d see again live. And I’ll always adore their lush, rich records.

Photo courtesy Wye Oak

Wye Oak — When I was scouring the SXSW ’11 lineup, I stumbled across this band’s song “Civilian” and was sold enough to know they were a group I had to see at some point during the week. I finally made it happen on their Friday night performance at the Parish. When they first started playing, I was worried; the music was beautiful, but the whole thing reminded me a little too much of my experience with Beach House at SXSW ’09. In other words, I was worried I was going to be bored to tears. Luckily, Wye Oak have way more backbone (sorry, Beach House fans). Guitarist and front woman Jenn Wasner has vocals that howl like some fantastical mermaid-siren’s, and she is so much fun to watch on guitar. Andy Stack is a perfect compliment on drums, adding to the tunes without overpowering them. I think the song that finally really knocked the wind out of me was “For Prayer,” which punctuates with a screaming wall of sound after each verse. It shocks you awake and alive, and I like that kind of fire. And you gotta love another female presence on Merge Records. Got to.

Sharon Van Etten — Sharon Van Etten is, as an everyday person, too cute for words. She’s clearly a total nerd, but she’s a nerd with this singing voice that can grab you by the throat and punch you in the guts and eat your heart for lunch. Her songs are the heartbreak kind, done with honesty and beautiful, relatable storytelling. Van Etten was an artist whose album I’d already fallen for pre-SXSW, and was heavily anticipating her live performance. She more than lived up to expectations, sounding impeccable in a noisy Mohawk as the sun shone down on our heads. The music sounded good (save for one new song the band had to start over; the bass never did quite sound like it was in the proper key). But it’s Van Etten’s voice that is the show-stealer every time. The instrumentation is ultimately a lovely dressing for her vocals, which are deep and luscious, an absolute treat for the ears and soul.

Sarah Jaffe — Jaffe, Jaffe, Jaffe. My love affair with Sarah Jaffe is now a solid year along in its development, and with each new performance, she affects a new part of me and impresses me even more deeply than the time before. Sarah Jaffe has an incredible honey-toned voice, is brilliant at songwriting, and continues to explore new and exciting experiments that, more often than not, succeed with flying colors. She still has a beloved cache of folk-rock and folk-pop tunes from her EP Even Born Again and debut album Suburban Nature, but she now tends to open her shows with an electro-R&B number that leaks into “Under,” where she sings over a loop of her own echoing chorus of vocals. It’s a show-stopper, and has elicited rabid applause each time I’ve seen it performed. If you’ve ever just felt this fullness in your chest, like happiness could be the fluffy stuffing of a teddy bear, except it’s in you and bursting out at your seams as you grin like an idiot, that’s the kind of feeling Sarah Jaffe’s music will give you. Plus, the woman’s stage banter is so endearing and hilarious and personable, you too will instantly fall in love. I’ll leave you with a couple of crude videos of Jaffe’s tunes, just to give you a taste of what I’m talking about (to really get it, see her live. I can’t stress this enough.)Where you gonna rest your head?Intro + Under

Here it is – the last preview before the South by Southwest Music Conference descends and we all lose our minds. I scoured the band list to try and find the best groups I could to recommend. Below, you’ll get a quick-hit description of the band from me, a link to a song that exemplifies their sound, and the time and venue the band is performing at. I break it all down day-by-day; if you really love a band, check the sxsw.com schedule to get all of their performance dates (a lot of ‘em are playing 3+ shows). Read on, and then get out there and rock!

Young the Giant – This band has a song in heavy rotation on 101x right now, and it hooked me. I’m weary that they might be another ‘The Hours’ for me (where “Ali in the Jungle” is amazing but everything else falls flat), but seriously – watch that video and tell me you’re not curious. Midnight at Buffalo Billiards.

Maps & Atlases – really great vox, deep and luscious, plus uptempo rock to back ‘em; reminded me a little of TV on the Radio, but I like this better (keep in mind I’m not a fan of TVotR). Midnight at Red Eyed Fly